


Do you realise?

by bucketandspade



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - 21st Century, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, British girl knows nothing abut the American school system, Bromance, Canonical Character Death, Death, Don't worry not any main characters, F/M, Fluff, Homophobia, I'm Sorry, I'm just having fun with this, Idk what though, Lots of stuff will happen, M/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Probably some ooc sorry, Protective Steve, Steve and Bucky being the most annoying little shits by not realising they need to date, Stucky - Freeform, They are so cute, Thor's kinda a slut, Tony and Bucky are confirmed old married couple, but i'm terrible at writing fluff so you might not notice, but in a good way, clint is a little shit, first fic, i will put so much fluff in this, i'm gonna stop tagging now, if you want message me asking for stuff to happen, just assume everything is fluff, otp, please do that then i dont have to think, stucky feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 20:27:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5019307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucketandspade/pseuds/bucketandspade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Bucky are college freshmen who turn out to be neighbours in a student housing apartment block who seriously just need to get their shit together and date, everyone around them can see it but they just don't seem to realise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do you realise?

Bucky hurried through the corridor, heading towards the exit and way from the pounding music. He spotted someone leaning casually against the wall outside and acted before thinking, slinging his arm around him.

  
“Hey man! Where’ve you been all night?” He said, a slight drunken slur in his voice, before shifting to a hushed whisper. “Play along, there’s someone following me.” The slightly taller man nodded without hesitating.

  
“Been looking for you, just came out to get some fresh air.” The stranger responded. Even in his drunken state Bucky noticed the slight hint of Brooklyn in his accent. It reminded him of home. Bucky also noticed how attractive this guy was, and not just in the way that anyone can be if you get drunk enough (which at this point in the night he certainly was) but in the 'I could look at you for hours and feel disappointed with every blink that I missed a single moment of your existence' kind of way. On second thought maybe it was the alcohol making him think like that.  

  
“Well you obviously weren’t looking hard enough,” Bucky smiled as he talked then took another swig from the beer bottle in his right hand, the left still hanging over the other man’s shoulder. Looking him over Bucky noticed how casual the man seemed, given the fact that he had a drunk stranger hanging off him, His broad shoulders weren't at all rigid as he pushed his blond hair back, it gave him a relaxed look that made their charade seem real. The same couldn't be said for Bucky. At the sound of feet coming down the corridor he had just left his back tensed and he looked round to see a dreaded figure stumble out of the doorway, clearly almost blind drunk.

  
“Is that him?” The man Bucky was leaning on muttered, feeling how tense the arm around him had suddenly become. Bucky nodded nervously.

  
“What the hell?!” The drunk man spat at them. “Who the hell is this?!” He gestured to the blond.

  
“He’s my friend,” Bucky mumbled, his voice weaker than he would have liked. “Leave us alone Brock.”

  
“Your friend?” The man, Brock, sneered, coming closer to Bucky until their faces were less than an inch away from each other. “What would-“

  
He was suddenly cut off by the Blond man, who had seen Brock wrap his hand around Bucky’s wrist and squeeze tightly. “Listen pal,” He grabbed Brock by the collar. “My friend said to back off.”

  
Brock looked as if he was going to protest or spit an insult back at the man but decided against it when he saw him flex his muscles menacingly. He pulled back aggressively against the man’s hand and glared at them both before strutting away in the other direction from the building.

  
Bucky let out a huff of breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding.

  
“So what was that about? Angry stalker?” The blond asked, the teasing tone in his voice easing the tension slightly.

  
Bucky made a weird gesture with his hands. “Something like that,” He explained, scratching the back of his head. “Man I really owe you for that one, he looked pretty pissed I don’t know what he would have done if you hadn’t stepped in. What’s your name?”

  
“Steve,” Came the reply with an outstretched hand. “Good to meet you…” He extended the end of his sentence by way of inviting Bucky to give his name.

  
“Bucky.” He smiled and took his arm off Steve’s shoulder before shaking his hand, noticing how warm it felt against the cold air.

  
“That’s a weird name.”

  
“Yeah and Steve makes you sound like and old man.” Bucky retorted with a grin. “At least let me get you a drink or something, I’d probably be a bloody pulp if it wasn’t for you.”

  
Steve chuckled lightly at the remark. “No, uh, I don’t drink. I know, I know, what sort of student am I.”

  
“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Bucky said. “If you don’t want a drink then how about a dance? Besides, my bottle is empty and I am a completely normal student who wants to take advantage of all the free alcohol while I still can so I’m heading that way.”

  
“Sure, why not?” Steve agreed and followed Bucky back into the hall where they were greeted by a full refreshment table and thriving dance floor.

 

* * *

 

 

Why do I do this to myself? Bucky thought as he groaned at the pain in his head, vowing as he usually did when suffering from a severe hangover to never drink again. He forced his eyes to open but immediately regretted it when the light made his head pound even more. After taking a moment to recover he sat up and looked around. He was sitting on a mattress on the floor of his friend’s room where he had been crashing for the last few nights before he could get the keys to his own apartment. Bucky sighed in relief, he couldn’t remember much after arriving at the party for returning seniors but at least he had ended up where he should be. Checking his phone he groaned again when he realised what day it was. It had been a week since his parents had dropped Bucky off at Clint’s house after an eventful summer of doing as little as was humanly possible and that meant that today was the day he was going to move into his new apartment. To be honest he really wasn’t feeling up to it.

  
“Morning sleepy,” Clint said, coming into the room in a dressing gown and winking at him. “Time to get up you have to be at the building in an hour.” He kicked Bucky’s toe lightly.

  
“What the hell are you so happy about?” Bucky asked, his voice deep and croaky.

  
“Just enjoying not feeling like I’m slowly crawling my way out of hell.” Clint smiled sweetly.

  
“You’re a diiiiiiiiiiiick.” Bucky moaned, planting his face firmly into the pillow.

  
It’s a good job you’re into that then, or this really wouldn’t be working out.” Clint joked, taking a sip from the coffee mug in his hands. Bucky’s only response was to stick his middle finger out and try not to move his body at all.

Clint laughed under his breath and left Bucky to his suffering. “If you want me to drive we have to be out in half an hour, I have places to be.” He said while walking towards the door.

  
Bucky groaned for what was probably the hundredth time that morning. He wanted to look good when he met his new room mate but that meant he would need as much time as possible to make his hair cooperate which meant getting up now. After a moment of deliberation Bucky was dragging himself out of bed, choosing to make a good first impression rather than have an extra ten minutes of comfort.

  
“Wow you’re actually moving.” Clint said with mock shock when he saw Bucky dragging himself through the living room.

  
“Fuck off, Barton.” Bucky muttered, making his way towards the small bathroom.

  
Once the door was closed he wasted no time in peeling off last night’s alcohol scented clothes and getting into the hot shower. He tried to piece together the events of the night before as he washed away the smell of regret but it was no use, all he could remember was loud music and people handing him drinks. He passed it off as a regular night out as he reluctantly shut the water off as he stepped back out onto the cold tile floor feeling a little better. The shower had made him feel slightly less like he was about to die even if each step he took out of the bathroom made his ears ring.

   
On his way back to the bedroom he passed Clint making coffee. They had their usual morning exchange of Clint saying something teasingly flirtatious and Bucky swearing at him in response and he started to feel nervous. He would miss this easiness with Clint, he had only been staying with him for a week but they were comfortable with each other, what if his new roommate didn’t like him? Found his unavoidable morning grouchiness annoying? What if they were homophobic and kicked Bucky out when they found out he was gay? Or worst of all, what if they didn’t like cats? Bucky didn’t think he could trust someone who didn’t like cats enough to sleep in the same apartment as them. Sighing, he unzipped the suitcase he had been living out of and looked at his small selection of clothes, trying to piece together an outfit that looked casual enough to make it seem like he wasn’t trying but smart enough to give him the appearance of being less hung over than he was.

  
“What are you even talking about, get it together Barnes.” Bucky told himself, rubbing his eyes and grabbing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt from the top of the case. He sniffed them to make sure they were clean and pulled them on when he came away relatively satisfied with the smell.

  
“If you carry on talking to yourself like that your new room mate will think you're crazy!” Clint called from some other part of his flat.

  
Bucky ignored him and pulled on a leather jacket. He slipped his grandfather’s dog tags out from underneath his hsirt, letting his fingers linger on the metal. Bucky took a final look in the full length mirror and the epic battle with his hair began. When he was as satisfied as he could care to be he took his suit case and walked into the living room where Clint was waiting.

  
“Took you long enough.” Clint said with an air of false annoyance.

  
“I took exactly 26 minutes, I’m early.” Bucky grumbled, he had checked the time before leaving his room to be prepared for Clint’s usual game.

  
“Whatever, nerd,” Clint responded, picking up his keys as he walked away. “Come on.”

  
They made their way quickly out to Clint’s tiny car, Bucky battling with the broken wheel of his suitcase. The passenger side chair of the car was stuck as far forward as it could go so Bucky had to cram himself further into the already tiny space and tuck his knees right up. It still beat being in the back with almost no headroom and the wrappers from Clint’s car snack fests littering the floor and seats.

  
“Buckle up, buttercup.” Clint said. “Warp speed ahead.”

  
“I’m surprised this piece of junk even has seat belts.” Bucky muttered.

  
“Hey do you see any other car around here?” Clint smirked. “You better stop badmouthing my baby or you’ll be walking there.”

  
“You call this thing a baby? It’s old enough to be my grandpa.”

  
“Watch it, Bucko.” Clint said, hitting the accelerator as soon as they were out of the parking lot and making Bucky fear for his life.

  
The first ten or so minutes of the half hour drive passed with the two exchanging insults and eventually slipping into a comfortable silence. Bucky chose not to fall asleep again, as much as his pounding head wanted him to, and checked his phone for any clues of what had happened the night before.

  
There was nothing registered on his call list and no texts sent, he thanked god that there hadn’t been a repeat of the time when he had drunk dialled his aunt and very aggressively came out, yelling down the line about him being who he was and that it wasn’t a choice while she was trying to remind him that he had, in fact, told the whole family when he was 14 and no one cared any more. He only found one thing different on his phone from the night before and after looking at it for a minute trying to figure it out he decided to ask Clint.

  
“Who’s Steve?”

  
Clint looked up from the road and Bucky regretted distracting him as they over took and swerved between the other cars. “Huh? I don’t know, maybe you boned him.”

  
“Shut up, if I kept his number we didn’t sleep together,” Bucky said, still trying to remember. “It’s saved as: Steve – call if you get lost.”

  
“He sounds like your mom,” Clint laughed. “We’re here.”

  
“What the hell it’s been like fifteen minutes?” Bucky said as they pulled up, Clint’s maniac driving had made him early. He huffed in annoyance thinking about the fifteen minutes of extra sleep he could have gotten.

  
“You should be used to my driving by now, you've known me for over two years,” Clint shrugged. “I'd stick around but I have a date.” He puffed his chest out proudly.

  
“Good luck to her,” Bucky said as he climbed out of the clown car, fishing his suitcase from the back. “It’s been fun Barton.” He stood outside the car, looking through the open window waiting for Clint to respond. Bucky laughed when the other man just saluted and sped away, he wasn’t one for goodbyes.

  
Bucky turned around and walked into the standard looking building Clint had dropped him off at, opening the email from the student accommodation administrator on his phone and walking to the elevator. There was one other person waiting in front of the metal doors, about Bucky’s age but a little taller, but Bucky took no notice as he checked over the details of his apartment.

  
“Bucky?”

  
“Huh?” Bucky looked up from his phone to see that the blond stranger apparently recognised him. “Do I know you?” He said apologetically.

  
“I’m Steve, we met at the party last night.” The stranger said, not seeming too surprised that Bucky didn’t recognise him.

  
“Oh! 'Call if you get lost' Steve?” Steve nodded and Bucky groaned, thinking about what he might have done the night before. “I had waaay too much to drink. We didn’t…?”

  
“What? Oh god, no,” The mystery guy laughed and shook his head. “We pretended to know each other ‘cause your crazy ex was following you and it pissed him off a bit. Then you somehow convinced me to dance for two hours solid. My feet kill.”

  
Bucky laughed. “Sorry about that,” The doors creaked open and they both walked into the run down looking elevator. “What floor?”

  
“Three, thanks.”

  
“Cool, me too,” Bucky pressed the button. “Wait. You’re not here to meet your new room mate are you?”

  
Steve nodded, an honest smile spreading across his face. “You too? And we’re on the same floor," He stopped to contemplate for a moment. "What number are you?”

  
“5b,” Bucky said, hoping that Steve would say the same thing. He’d only met the guy the night before, and couldn't remember that anyway, but he liked him already. He liked that it was easy to talk to him and that with Steve all his worries from the morning seemed ridiculous. He also liked the way he smiled with his whole face, eyes lighting up under raised eyebrows and straight teeth peeking out. Bucky shook his head, shocked at his own thoughts. “You?” He asked, clearing his throat.

  
“5a.” There was hint of disappointment in Steve’s voice but his smile didn’t falter. “I guess we’re neighbours then. Too bad, I bet we would have been great room mates.”

  
“Yeah.” Bucky laughed and scratched his head awkwardly, banishing thoughts of how cute Steve was.

  
The doors opened onto a narrow corridor with four doors either side and double doors at the end with a sign for the stairs. They walked down next to each other, their shoulders almost bumping in the small space, the numbers on the doors going down from eight with all the As and Bs on the other until they got to five.

  
“I guess this is it, hope you get a good one.” Bucky said, smirking at Steve and turning to his door.

  
“You too. Wanna meet up for dinner? I for one don't want to cook today and wouldn't be against splitting a takeaway.” Steve suggested and Bucky instantly perked up at the idea. “But only bring your room mate if he isn’t a total ass.”

  
Bucky laughed, hand lingering on the door handle. “Sure, see ya later Steve.” He smiled and waved slightly, seeing Steve open his door at the same time as Bucky and walking inside.

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re just in time, I made coffee.” A brown haired man standing behind the counter separating the kitchen and living area said, pouring freshly made coffee into two mugs. “I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Tony and I’ll be your room mate for the next few years.”

“I’m-“

  
“James Barnes. But you prefer to go by Bucky,” Tony interrupted, sliding one of the coffees into the space in front of him and motioning for Bucky to sit. “Don’t looks so shocked, I checked with the land lord who my room mate would be before you got here then did a little research.”

  
“Research?” Bucky asked, scared that he had picked up a stalker.

  
“Nothing major, just checked for a criminal record, family history, childhood friends. Standard stuff.” Tony flashed a smile and Bucky wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. He sat and sipped his coffee in silence. “No offence but you look like you really need this stuff right now,” Tony said. “Rough night?”

“The welcome party got a bit out of hand.” Bucky nodded, conversation coming a bit easier now that he had some caffeine in his system. “At least I think it did, can’t remember much. Weren’t you there?”

 

Tony laughed lightly. “No, I only flew in this morning.” He said and after a while the conversation started to come more easily. For the most part it was small talk; who had which room, where they thought Tony’s massive flat screen TV should go (Bucky listed off over twenty increasingly weak points arguing for it to go in his bedroom, the last of them being against the communistic undertones of having it in the shared living space). Amidst these aimless discussions Bucky did learn some things about Tony, who seemed to have no problem at all with talking about himself. Bucky found out that Tony was the son of billionaires Howard and Maria Stark, hence the gigantic TV, and was a physics major. Knowing just how rich the famous Starks were Bucky couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing sharing a shitty apartment with him.

  
He didn’t get a chance to ask as his phone buzzed in his pocket, distracting him. Looking at the time Bucky realised in shock that it had been almost an hour after they had first sat down. He smirked slightly when he looked at the screen and saw a message from _Steve – call if you get lost_ , noting that he would have to change that name.

  
_So what’s the verdict, does he qualify for Chinese food?_ The message read.

  
Bucky paused to think for a minute, after an hour of conversation with Tony he still wasn’t sure what he thought of him.

  
“Hellooo, anyone there?” Tony said with a sarcastic tone to his voice and waved a hand in front of Bucky’s face to get his attention. “What are you texting about that could possibly be more important than getting to know your new room mate?”

  
Bucky laughed, typing out a quick reply:

  
_A little arrogant but I think he’s worthy_

  
“I met our neighbour before, he was asking about dinner plans,” Bucky said, turning back to Tony and putting his phone down. “How does Chinese sound?”

  
“Sounds good. Tell Steve that they can come here, I’ve got beer.”

  
“How did you know it was Steve?.” Bucky asked, regtetting it when when Tony gave him a look reminding Bucky of the investigatory work he had done on hum earlier and wasn’t at all surprised that he had looked into their neighbours too. 

  
“I figured it would probably be him, considering your blush. Could have been Sharon from 4a but she doesn't seem like your type.” Tony smirked.

"What - I don't, um, what?" Bucky spluttered, unable to think of anything to say. His head was pounding considerably less but still wasn't quite in the position to be thinking of comebacks. He gave up and chose to type out a reply to Steve instead.

   
 _Meet at ours at 7? Room mate has a great TV so bring a film if you want_

  
It was sad but Bucky never usually texted anyone other than his mom who would send massively in depth accounts of her day every night at around 8 and for that reason he had no idea how to keep up a regular conversation in writing, although it seemed to be going fine so far. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any friends, Bucky simply preferred talking to typing. It wasn’t just with texting either: the only social media presence he had was the facebook profile that Nat, his best friend from high school, had made for him three years ago in an effort to bring him in to the twenty first century. So far the only posts were two pictures of cats he had found walking around captioned by multiple hearts.

  
Over the next couple of hours they exchanged some more casual conversation and Bucky looked around the apartment. He spent at least forty minutes unpacking what was in his suitcase (his parents were bringing the rest of his stuff the next day) and rearranging the furniture that came with the apartment, eventually deciding to have it as it was when he started. Eventually Bucky heard a knock on the door and tried to leave his room as fast as he could to beat Tony to the door but tripped over the pile of junk that had already accumulated on the floor and ended up sprawled out, scrambling to get up. When he finally reached the living room he heard the slightly awkward introductions coming from round the corner and smiled at Steve and the man he assumed was Steve’s room mate in greeting when they walked in.

  
“Hey Bucky,” Steve smiled like they were old friends. “This is my room mate, Sam.”

  
“Good to meet you man,” Sam said from Steve’s side, he reached his hand up to clap Bucky on the shoulder but his eyes caught hold of the shiny TV before he could complete the action. “Oh my god.” His mouth fell open and he walked over to it, stroking the screen gently.

  
“Why is he molesting my TV?” Tony said, leaning against the counter.

  
Steve shrugged. “Sam’s a massive film nerd, he’s probably excited to get to see old movies on a screen that size. He practically threw this at me when I told him you said to bring one.” He said, passing Bucky a DVD case. _Trouble Man_ was written in big letters across the middle. “Apparently the soundtrack is amazing.”

  
“Awesome,” Bucky said, smiling and taking the DVD, putting it down by the TV where Sam was sitting.

  
“How’s your head?” Steve said to him quietly while Sam talked animatedly about the technicalities of film to Tony, who only seemed to be half listening as he filled his glass.

  
“Much better,” Bucky smiled again and cleared his throat. “You guys ready to order food yet?”

  
His question was met with frantic nodding and complaints about how long it had been since they’d all eaten. Bucky took down everyone’s orders while Tony found the number of their local Chinese restaurant and Sam worked out how to use the overly complicated remote for Tony's TV.

  
“C’mon Steve you’ve been trying to decide for ten minutes.”

  
“I can’t decide! It all looks so good…” Steve trailed off, scrolling through the menu on Bucky’s phone again.

  
“Have you at least narrowed it down?” Sam asked, exasperated.

  
“I think I want chicken.”

  
“OH MY GOD.” Tony exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air like someone off a reality TV show and walking into the kitchen, no doubt to top his drink off.

  
“I can’t do it you decide for me Buck!” Steve said, thrusting the phone in his face.

  
“Huh?” Bucky said. No one had ever called him Buck before, it took him off guard he realised he didn’t mind Steve doing it at all. “Oh right, errrm.” Bucky thought, reading the options. He couldn’t make this decision for the other man, he hardly knew him. Steve seemed like the type who would go along with whatever Bucky suggested and eat it without complaint but the last thing Bucky wanted was to choose something Steve hated and watch him eat it out of politeness. This simple decision could completely impact their future friendship and Bucky wasn’t ready to sacrifice what could be by ordering something with mushrooms. Unless Steve loved mushrooms, then it would be a good thing. Bucky knew he was overthinking this but that didn’t make him stop. He looked up at Steve, biting his lip.

  
“Ok you know what, you can just share one meal.” Tony snapped, dialling the restaurant’s number.

  
“What?!” Steve and Bucky yelled at the same time.

  
“What did we do?” Bucky whined while Steve added in a pained voice: “You can’t do this to us.”

  
“You wasted our precious food time staring into each other’s eyes, this is your punishment.” Tony said and Sam’s stomach rumbled in agreement.

  
“Nooooooo.” Bucky groaned, planting himself face first into the sofa when he thought about the small portion coming his way, the emptiness in his stomach suddenly feeling like a vast cavern.

  
“Its ok pal,” Steve said, sitting on the floor by the sofa and patting Bucky’s head. “We’ll make it through this somehow.”

  
Bucky looked up and saw Steve’s expression. His eyes were lidded and his brow heavy, a deep sadness clouding his face.

  
“Oh my god you guys,” Sam said, sighing. “You’re sharing a meal, not shipping off to the front lines. You’ll be fine.”

  
They both grimaced in response and Bucky turned his face back to the pillow. The meal was ordered; they had no choice but to accept their fate.

 

Thirty minutes later the movie was starting and they all sat down with their food, Bucky and Tony didn’t have any plates yet so they had to eat it out of the containers but at this point they were all too hungry to care.

  
Bucky wasn’t concentrating on the film, he was too focussed on keeping an eye on the food to make sure that Steve didn’t take a single noodle more than half. About fifteen minutes into it they were nearly finished, one mouthful left in the foil container. Bucky and Steve locked eyes, glaring at each other. They had silently started a staring contest, understanding that the winner would get to finish the meal. That was the only reason for the staring; Bucky definitely wasn’t using this as an excuse to look at Steve’s blue eyes and think about how cute the competitive glint in them was, not at all.

  
Tony glanced over when he noticed that the complaints about how little food they had to eat had stopped, and saw them staring at each other. Taking advantage of their distraction he quietly leaned over, extending his fork. He noticed Bucky start to squint, his eyes clearly stinging. He would have to make this quick, it was clear that Bucky didn’t have the strength to hold out much longer. _Don’t blink, Barnes_ he thought. If he did, it would all be over for both of them. Quickly but carefully, trying his hardest not to benoticed, Tony scooped up the remaining noodles and snapped his up to his mouth like a lizard’s tongue. Sam was too fixated on the screen to notice anything was going on.

 

“Mmm, that’s delicious.” He said around the mouthful.

  
“WHAT.” Steve and Bucky exclaimed. They both whipped their heads around to confirm their fear of what Tony had done. Bucky thought he saw Steve’s eyes flick to his lips a second before they were interrupted but was to overcome with anger to dwell on it.

“You DICK there is no way I am living with someone who would do that!” Bucky exclaimed while Steve let out an agonised cry.

  
“What? You were gazing so deeply into each other’s eyes I thought you were done eating,” Tony teased and laughed at the combination of embarrassment on Bucky’s cheeks and anger in his clenched jaw. “Eating food, I mean.” He added with a wink.

  
“Screw you,” Bucky pouted, not able to think of a better comeback. “I’m taking your beer.” He got up and walked to the fridge.

  
Sam looked at them all with a cold look in his eyes. “You are ruining the film.” He said, voice polite to an almost sinister degree.

  
“Sorry, sorry,” Bucky said hurrying back to his seat next to Steve.

  
Try as he might to get into the film he just couldn’t. Bucky was too confused from missing most of the first half because of certain distractions (Steve) and didn’t think Sam would react too well if he interrupted again to ask what was going on. Eventually he stopped trying to figure it out and sunk into the sofa, enjoying the comfort of the warmth radiating from Steve and the surprisingly soft cushions of the standard issue sofa that had come with the apartment.

 

It wasn’t long before his bottle was empty and he felt sleep calling to him. After what felt like hours of trying to keep his eyes open but was less than a minute in reality Bucky lost the battle, letting his eyes close and head flop down onto the soft cushion behind him.

 

* * *

 

 

A light rapping on the door made its way past the brain fog in Bucky’s sleepy mind and he started to stir. He was warm and comfortable and there appeared to be a soft blanket draped over him, keeping all the warmth and comfort in. He wasn’t used to feeling like this in the mornings and chose to savour it, pressing his face into the hard surface under him to try to block out the light and cling to any chance of getting more sleep he had. He heard what sounded like three – no, four pairs of feet coming closer and groaned at the thought of having to get up and introduce himself to whoever was there. Rather than get up and face his fate he decided to pretend not to have heard and pressed his face further into the warm, hard, sweet smelling surface beneath him. He would have to compliment the landlord on their couch choice later, it was without a doubt the best one he had ever slept on.

  
“A week back and he already has a boyfriend,” A familiar, loving voice said from not too far away. “That’s our Bucky.”

  
Bucky cracked an eye open, not sure if he’d imagined his mother’s voice in his sleepy state. Sure enough, there she was, standing next to his father.

  
“Mom?” He asked groggily. “What are you doing here?”

  
“We came to drop your stuff off Bucky, remember? No no, don’t get up, you two look so peaceful.” She said with a huge smile on her face, putting a hand on Bucky’s shoulder when he started to move.

  
“What? Who’re- oh.” Bucky started in confusion, not understanding what his mom meant when by you two. It didn’t take him long to realise that she was talking about Steve, the excellent couch Bucky had been praising so highly moments before. Bucky blushed furiously and jumped up in embarrassment, surprised that he didn’t wake Steve up in the process. “He’s not – it’s not what it looks like, ok?”

  
“Whatever you say sweetheart.” His mom said, unconvinced, and advanced on him with her arms open. He accepted the hug and squeezed her tightly. As soon as he was released from her death grip there was another hand on his shoulder.

  
“Bucky,” His dad smiled at him with that signature Barnes family smirk and brought his arms around him too, although not with a bone crunching grip to rival a boa constrictor’s like his mother had. “We’ve missed you. I wouldn’t say it’s been quiet, not with your sister around but-“

  
“Is she here?” Bucky asked, pulling back and scanning the room frantically for his little sister. He saw her leaning on the counter that separated the living area from the small kitchen and when their eyes locked neither of them could hold back the excited squeal.

  
“Bucky!” Becky said, launching herself into his waiting arms. “Ew you stink.”

  
“Shut up Beck, you love it.” Bucky said, pulling her head closer to his armpit and making her scream. Their parents stood by watching the spectacle, enjoying the refreshing nature of seeing their son push their daughter’s face into his armpit again. It had only been a week but Bucky had a habit of making anywhere feel empty when he left, his family had a hard time adjusting to not having him around every time he left.

  
They all fell silent and looked back to the sofa when Steve started to move and groan at the noise. Ten seconds later he was settled back down looking as peaceful as before and Bucky had to stop himself from smiling.

  
“So,” Bucky’s mom started in a slightly more hushed tone. “Who is he?”

  
“He’s called Steve and before you say anything else he’s just my neighbour mom.” Bucky said.

  
“That’s not what it seemed like last night.” Tony cut in in a sing-song voice, not looking up from the article he was reading on the other sofa where Bucky hadn’t noticed him.

  
“Shut up Tony we just fell asleep there’s nothing more to it mom I promise.” Bucky hurried to convince her but it didn’t seem to be working.

 

“That reminds me,” Tony said, putting the article down and looking Bucky dead in the eye. “You didn't tell me you talked in your sleep.”

  
“Whatever you are about to say you will regret so think it through very carefully.”

  
“Let the man talk,” Becky said, now perched on the arm of the sofa Steve was sleeping on. “I want to see where this is going.”

  
“Who wants to see my room?” Bucky said suddenly to change the subject. They all sighed but followed him into the tiny space nonetheless.

  
Bucky tried to spend as much time as possible going over the details of his bedroom but he could barely drag it out over five minutes considering that there was only a bed, wardrobe and small desk in the plain white square room.

  
“Is my stuff in the car?” Bucky asked, accepting that there wasn’t much more he could say about the blinds.

  
His dad nodded. “I’ll give you a hand getting it, would you mind making some coffee Wini?” He said, addressing Bucky’s mom and yawning.

  
“I don’t know what you‘re so tired for, I did all the driving.” She muttered in response as they all exited the room but made her way over to the kitchen regardless.

  
“So, Steve?” Bucky’s dad said as soon as they were out of the apartment.

  
“Oh my god dad, you too?” Bucky moaned. “I would expect this of mom but you? Really?”

  
“All I’m saying is that college is an expressive time for everybody. You’ll learn new things about yourself that you never even considered and you’ll meet lots of different people along the way.” He seemed to be choosing his words very carefully, not quite getting at what he wanted to say.

  
“I already know I’m gay, dad. Where are you going with this?”

  
“Listen, son, I just want to know that you’re being safe.”

  
“OHMYGOD.” Bucky put his hands to his face, wishing they hadn’t just entered the lift so that he could run away.

  
“There are times when two people feel a certain way about each other and want to do certain things-”

  
“Please stop.”

  
“And sometimes people get carried away and don’t take the correct precautions. Now I know that pregnancy isn’t an issue for you but you have to think about more than that-“

  
“Daaaaaaaaaaaaad.” Bucky leant against the well of the ancient elevator and began to slink down towards the floor in an effort to stop existing.

  
“Here, I picked up these from the pharmacy. I’ve been told they’re very helpful.” Bucky’s dad produced a bunch of pamphlets out of thin air and handed them to him.

  
“I don’t want those dad.” Bucky said, seeing the pictures on the front and wishing he could burst into flames right there and then.

  
“I’m only trying to help, Bucky. Steve’s a big man. Very muscular. I don’t want you feeling like you have to do anything-“

  
“If I take the pamphlets will you stop talking?” Bucky hurried before his dad could say anything else.

  
“Oh god please do, I’m not sure how much longer I can do this for.” Bucky’s dad said, giving him the pamphlets.

  
The elevator doors opened and Bucky hurried out, relieved to leave that conversation behind him.

  
“And for the record Steve and I really are just neighbours.” Bucky said.

  
“Ok, and your mom and I are just room mates.” His dad responded sarcastically but Bucky chose not to press the matter. Once his parents got an idea into their heads there was no telling them otherwise and anything Bucky said at this point would probably only make the matter worse.

Ten minutes later Bucky and his dad were on their way back up to the apartment, managing to balance all of Bucky’s stuff between them so that they only had to make one run. Bucky had a lamp under his arm with the shade over his head, three boxes under his chin and a rucksack on his back. His dad was somehow managing to carry another three boxes and a rucksack as well as an entire bookcase.

They stumbled into the apartment, panting under the weight of the load and went straight through to Bucky’s bedroom without so much as glancing at the people sitting in the bedroom, not allowing any distraction from their destination. If they stopped now they would lose momentum and it would all be over. They collapsed down next to each other on the small bed once they dropped the load and grinned, high fiving.

  
Once their muscles had stopped aching they got up went back into the living room. Bucky nearly burst out laughing at the sight he saw in front of him. Steve was sat up now, wedged between Bucky’s sister, who had a mischievous grin on her face, and his mother, who was looking determined. Being held under Steve’s face was the object they were all focussing on: one of the dreaded pamphlets.

  
“You brought _spares_?” Bucky asked.

  
“We had to be ready for all eventualities darling, we didn’t know that something like this wouldn’t happen.” His mom said, oblivious to the embarrassment she was causing as usual.

  
“Nothing _has_ happened.” Bucky sighed, slouching onto the floor where his mom’s legs were and leaning against them.

  
“Say, Bucky,” Becky started and just from her tone of voice he could tell that whatever she was about to say would be mortifying. “This part isn’t described very well but I’m sure you could explain it better to me, given your experience.” She gestured to one of the many graphic diagrams on the page.

  
Bucky groaned and put his head in his lap.

  
“Maybe Steve knows.” Becky added.

  
“You need to stop talking right now.” Bucky muttered and glared at her. She stuck her tongue out in response.

  
There was suddenly the sound of someone knocking on the door and then coming in without waiting for a response.

  
“Hey, is Steve still here?” Sam said, coming through to the main living area and noticing the people crowding it. “Oh, hello.”

  
“Yes I’m here Sam, do you need me urgently in our apartment? Sorry everyone I have to go, Sam needs me urgently in our apartment.” Steve said, standing up fast at the chance to escape Bucky’s mom.

  
“What’s the rush, man?” Sam said. “We can stick around. Hey there.” He added, looking at Becky, a fact not escaping Bucky’s notice and earning an almighty glare.

  
“What did you need me for anyway?” Steve said, sighing at the loss of his way out.

  
“Oh nothing,” Sam said, taking the seat Steve had left. “I just tried to put a wash on and it started bubbling over, foam was going everywhere.”

  
“That’s kinda important Sam.” Steve said. “We should probably go take a look.”

  
“Fiiiiine.” Sam said, saying goodbye to everyone but putting the most emphasis on Becky.

  
“I’ll tag along too.” Tony said and Steve raised his eyebrows. “I might be able to fix it, I’m good with technology.”

  
As soon as the three of them had left Bucky was bombarded with questions, although it surprised Bucky that his family had even bothered holding any back while they had company, it was so unlike them. Soon they got onto the topic of Sam, it seemed that Bucky couldn’t be in the same room with any other boy at the moment without his parents thinking there was something going on there.

  
“How old is he?” Becky asked.

  
“He just turned 21. Don’t even think about it Beck, that is still too old for you.” Bucky replied wearily.

  
“He's only two years older than me, it's not that much.” She defended. “Not, uh, that that means anything.” She added, seeing the look on their dad’s face.

  
Soon they had settled down, all the embarrassing questions out the way, and Bucky and his mom were preparing dinner. He had changed out of the clothes he had fallen asleep in the night before after Becky’s continued teasing complaints about his smell and was now tying an apron around his fresh t-shirt.

  
“What time are you guys staying to?” Bucky asked as he added chopped tomatoes to the onions.

  
“We’ll probably leave after dinner. I wish I could stay with you forever love but there’s a four hour drive ahead and we both know your father isn’t going to be the one behind the wheel. Garlic?” She said, stirring the pot and running around the small kitchen searching through the cupboards.

  
“I don’t think we have any.” Bucky said, leaning against the counter and dipping his finger into the tomato sauce. It was always a wonder to him how him mom could make an amazing meal out of anything. He hadn’t seen a single useable ingredient in the kitchen the day before but somehow she had made this. The one thing they couldn’t find or substitute was pasta. Much to his distaste, they had sent Tony to the shop to pick some up.

  
“I can text Tony if you want?” Bucky suggested.

  
“No, no, he’s probably on his way back by now.” She said, adding something – _magic, probably_ Bucky thought – to the sauce. “You should go and see if your neighbour has any.” She stressed the word neighbour, making it clear that she still thought there was something more than that between him and Steve.

  
“Fine.” Bucky muttered, making his way to Steve’s apartment.

  
He raised his hand to knock on the door but was surprised by it opening before he had the chance for his hand to make contact with the wood. Unfortunately the hand was already in motion and continued to swing forward, despite the lack of door, to land on the next available surface. Which, it turned out, was Steve's boob area.

  
“Hey Bucky, I was just coming over to apologise. I think I might’ve been rude to your folks before and I really didn’t mean it. They’re great, honestly, it was just a little much ten minutes after waking up. What are you wearing?” Steve said almost too quickly for Bucky to catch all the words before he had the chance to ask about garlic or apologise for groping him, although Steve didn't seem to notice at all.

  
“Needed to get that out, huh?” Bucky asked.

  
Steve nodded. “I don’t want them to think I’m a bad person.”

  
“Relax, they loved you. Too much probably,” Bucky reassured him. “I was just coming round to ask if you had any garlic.”

  
“I guess that explains the apron.” Steve said with a smirk, Bucky instantly regretting not removing his mother's flowery monstrosity before coming round. Steve gestured for Bucky to follow him as he walked into the kitchen. The layout of Steve and Sam’s apartment was pretty much the same as his and Tony’s but the furniture was slightly different. It was nice but simple, two sofas facing each other over a coffee table and no TV. Bucky guessed that his expensive décor was just one of the perk of having the son of a world famous billionaire for a room mate.

  
“Garlic, here you go.” Steve said, handing Bucky a fresh clove from the cupboard. “So, you can cook?”

  
“Yeah, just what my mom taught me. You should come round for dinner, she’s head chef tonight and I promise you you won’t get many chances to eat food as good as what she's serving up.”

 

“I can tell just from that smell,” Steve smiled. “I've been sitting here with my mouth watering all night, there's no way I could pass up an opportunity to eat whatever it is.”

  
"Cool," Bucky grinned. "Should be ready in the next ten minutes, that ok for you?"

"Perfect," Steve smiled as they walked through the apartment back to the front door. "Wait, one thing before I commit myself to this evening." He added and they stopped in the doorway. 

"What is it?" Bucky asked, hoping that it wasn't something that would stop Steve from coming round.

"There aren't any more... pamphlets, are there?"

Bucky's entire face turned red and Steve burst into laughter.

"I promise," Bucky said in all seriousness. "That I will do everything in my power to stop anything like that ever happening again." 

"To be honest, Buck," Steve added. "I don't think anyone has the power to stop your mom from doing anything." 

"I wish I could say you were wrong." Bucky said before opening the door to his own apartment. 

 

* * *

 

 

Two hours later Bucky was saying goodbye to his family. They had all just about recovered from their post-dinner food comas and were dawdling down to the car, putting off the goodbyes as long as they could.

  
“You’ll be missed, son.” Bucky’s dad said as they all stood outside, waiting to get in.

  
“I know,” Buck said cockily. “Your lives revolve around me. Don’t get too bored while I’m not there.”

  
“Are you kidding? It’ll be a relief not to have to tidy up after you every step you take.” Bucky’s mom said, crossing her arms.

  
“C’mon ma, I’m not that bad.”

  
“Bucky you broke two plates this evening alone, I don’t know how you’re going to function living without us.”

  
“Don’t worry mom, he has Steve.” Becky said, smirking at Bucky who responded by chasing her around the car and squeezing her into a hug when he caught her.

  
“Maybe you’ll be less of a little shit next time I see you.” He said.

  
“We both know that's unlikely.” She laughed before lowering her voice, arms still wrapped around his neck. "I think you managed to convince them that you and Steve aren't a thing, and I believe you too, but the way you were looking at him totally gives your crush away."

Bucky squeezed her too tight in way of response. "I have _no idea_ what you are talking about Beck." He said, refusing to give in.

Rebecca laughed. "Don't worry Boo Bear, I'll try my hardest to stop them from getting too hung up on him. But I'm rooting for you." She gave him one final squeeze before pulling out of the embrace.

Bucky sighed in exasperation. "Love you sis," He reached a hand out to mess up her hair as she climbed into the car, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "And don't ever call me that!"

  
Bucky hugged both his parents and tried not to notice when his mom started sniffing and before he knew it they were speeding away.

  
He yawned, extremely tired after the long day. He made his way back upstairs, not seeing Tony who he assumed had gone to bed and walked into his room, or Steve, who had gone back to his apartment about half an hour before Bucky's family left.

  
“Craaaaaap.” He groaned, looking at all the boxes and bags littering his room. He chose to ignore it and cleared the bed, taking off his jeans before getting in.

That was future Bucky’s problem.

**Author's Note:**

> This is horrible and I am trash but I cant help it I love stucky too much to not be trash for them, if you want to see the true extent of my trashmanship go follow me on tumblr (buckaroo-barnse) and ask me questions or leave suggestions or whatever  
> p.s. thanks for reading this i love you


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